“A Republic, if you can keep it.”
* Remember this line? “History isn’t kind to the man who holds Mussolini’s jacket.” That was Ted Cruz in 2016, before he–and other fawning, calculating GOPsters–decided to hide out in the White House cloakroom.
* As we’ve seen, many prominent members of the military and national security community are at odds with President Donald Trump’s priorities and presidential mien. But it’s not just generals and admirals. A December 2019 Military Times poll found that a plurality of troops of all ranks disapproved of Trump’s presidency, and 45.8 percent “strongly disapproved.” Arguably, it has only gotten worse.
* As we now know, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, regrets having joined Trump for his controversial, presidential strut across Lafayette Square to St. John’s Church for that Bible-brandishing, hypocritical photo op. Authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the area of peaceful protestors. Gen. Milley says he regrets his participation–dressed in camouflage fatigues–because his presence “created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.” Chances are, it’s more regrettable–and visceral–than that. He knows that distinguished career notwithstanding, images showing him as a uniquely uniformed political prop for the worst president in U.S. history, are destined for America’s historical archives. He will never live this down. Too bad. But Trump enablers deserve infamy.
* “I don’t read Twitter; I only write on it.” That was how Sen. Marco Rubio–and other self-serving GOPsters–disingenuously create a bit of distance from some of the more polarizing tweets coming from the Oval Orifice.
* “Flori-duh”: Hardly happenstance that Jacksonville is where the Republicans will relocate major elements–including a prime-time acceptance speech by Donald Trump–of this summer’s national convention. The mayor, Lenny Curry, is a former Florida Republican Party chairman. City Council is Republican majority.
So, forget social distancing and masks for those crowding into the 15,000-seat VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena to hear Trump’s “carnage” and Keep America Grating updates. Anything less would be unacceptable to the optics-craving narcissist-in-chief.
BTW, Trump’s Aug. 27th acceptance speech is the same date as Jacksonville’s Ax Handle Saturday, when a mob of whites attacked black demonstrators trying to integrate lunch counters. We’ll see how Trump ax-handles that one.
* The GOP executive committee recently voted to keep the party’s current platform language–as adopted at the 2016 Republican Convention in Cleveland–in place for logistical reasons related to the last-minute, convention-venue change. It will carry over until 2024. Only problem, the platform’s priorities and principles are written in the literal context of rebuking the then-incumbent president, Barack Obama. Oops.
For example: “The current Administration has abandoned America’s friends and rewarded its enemies.” The utter, self-deriding, karmic irony is lost on nobody but the current incumbent.
* “Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will.”–That was Commander Bone Spurs’ directive to the mayor of Seattle and the governor of Washington about “domestic terrorists.”
* “Could be an ANTIFA provocateur.”–That was the polarizer-in-chief’s take on the identity and motivation of the 75-year-old Buffalo protester, Martin Gugino, who was pushed by cops and seriously injured. Twitter didn’t add any disclaimers to this Trump tweet, labeling it “speculative.”
* “She is much more like him than it appears.”–Mary Jordan, author of “The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump.”
* The Trump campaign has demanded an apology and a retraction from CNN over its recent poll showing Joe Biden with a 55-41 lead. It’s designed, charges the Trump campaign, for “voter suppression.” How ironic.
* “Trumptillas,” boat parades of Trump supporters, took place last Sunday in various waterfront communities across Florida, including off Apollo Beach. The official occasion: Where Flag Day meets Trump’s (74th) birthday. Patriotic flags and sycophantic signage, to be sure, were prominent optics. But no “SOS” signs.
* Too bad we didn’t hear those John Bolton insider revelations when he had an opportunity to share them with the American people through testimony in the House impeachment probe. Too bad his motivation wasn’t country–as opposed to book promotion–first.